Don Quijote - Compañía Nacional de Danza

A version by the Compañía Nacional de Danza of Marius Petipa's ballet, directed by Muriel Romero, staging the love story of Quiteria and Basilio inspired by an episode from Cervantes.

This production by the Compañía Nacional de Danza takes Marius Petipa's ballet as its starting point and reinterprets it from a distinctly Spanish viewpoint. Muriel Romero directs, and José Carlos Martínez's version keeps the choreographic skeleton of the original piece, although it recovers its colourful, popular tone. Unlike the great 19th-century ballets populated by supernatural creatures, here the protagonists are ordinary townsfolk.

The libretto takes an episode from the second volume of Miguel de Cervantes' El Quijote, that of the wedding of Camacho. The focus falls on the romance between Quiteria and Basilio, while Don Quijote and Sancho Panza take a back seat. From there, the perspective becomes more poetic and dwells on the quest for the ideal love embodied by Dulcinea.

With references to the versions of Rudolf Nureyev, Mijaíl Barýshnikov and Aleksandr Gorski, the production seeks to get close to the essence of Spanish dance and to highlight the cultural identity of the work from a Spanish company. Although the piece originates in the Russian-French ballet, this reading aims to respect the traditions of the Cervantine universe and Spanish dance. The staging incorporates smoke effects.